Nagano and the Japanese Alps

The next stop on our Japanese odyssey was Nagano. Located slam bang in the middle of the Japanese Alps, Nagano is mostly famous abroad for having hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, of course. In Japan it's also famous for Zenko-Ji - one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the country (in fact, the city grew up around the temple).

This time we'd booked a modern business hotel, rather than a traditional Ryokan. Nice change to have a private shower, a TV, and access to English-speaking staff ;-). Ridiculously cheap as well (accommodation in  Nagano is cheaper than usual in Japan, due to the post-Olympic Games oversupply in accommodation). After checking in, we had a nice noodle lunch next to the hotel (where we had a nice chat with a salaryman who actually spoke French - something you don't come across very often in Japan!).

We decided to start our exploration of Nagano by checking out the main tourist attraction in town, the afore-mentioned Zenko-Ji. It's a very impressive temple indeed, and the importance of the place is pretty obvious from the number of visitors (many wearing traditional Japanese clothing). The thing to do in Zenko-ji is to walk down a pitch dark corridor and try to touch a metal ring. I naturally had a go at it - and succeeded. So supposedly it means I gained enlightenment - not sure how much ?

After walking around the temple area for a while, we headed back down the main shopping street back towards the town centre (stopping by for some soba crepes - somewhat disappointing actually). After chilling out a bit at the hotel we headed back into town for dinner - we found a nice cosy little restaurant in a nice area just by the train station, which seemed to boast a concentration of restaurant frequented mostly by salarymen.

The next day, we had a tight schedule, as we headed off to explore the country-side around Nagano (there isn't that much to see in Nagano apart from Zenko-ji actually, even if it's a nice enough city, the main attractions are located in the surrounding countryside). Our first top was Obuse, which is where the famous Japanese painter Hokusai spent the last years of his life.

Obuse is a nice enough little provincial town, with a few interesting museums to visit. The first one was Takai Kozan's house - Takai Kozan was a friend and mentor of Hokusai (he convinced Hokusai to made the trek all the way from Tokyo to Obuse - pretty impressive feat as Hokusai was over 80 at the time). Interesting place, and obviously Takai Kozan was also an artist of no small talent. We particularly liked some of his satirical paintings - some of it reminiscent of some Animes we've seen. A pity all the legends were in Japanese...

The main attraction in Obuse is of course the Hokusai museum. We're both big fans of Hokusai, so obviously really enjoyed the place, even though there weren't that many works on display in the end. The show stealers were the hugely impressive ceremonial carts - just amazing work. Looking forward to seeing his big exhibition in Paris in December...

After a quick takeaway lunch, we jumped on the train to our next destination for the day - Jigokudani Yaen-koen. We got off at Yudanaka, a small spa town, from where we jumped on a local bus that took us to the park. From there it was an easy 40 minute walk up to the park. So what's so special about this particular park ? Well, it's full of snow monkeys, for starters. But what's even cooler is that they spend most of their time bathing and just generally monkeying about near a particular hot spring.

So it's basically a private monkey onsen. How brilliant is that ? Fantastic place, we spent an hour or so just watching the little creatures chill out in the onsen, bathe, play with each others. I guess they are pretty used to tourists by now, they didn't seem to mind our presence (one particular simian even took a real close interest in the rather expensive looking camera of a fellow photographer - quite funny to watch). Should you ever find yourselves in this part of Japan, you simply must visit this place!

By the time we got back to Nagano, it was more or less dinner-time. We more or less randomly stumbled into a nice looking place, with strange tubes hanging down from the ceiling - they looked very intriguing so we simply had to dine here. Turns out the place specialized in various meats - mainly intestines and other "interesting pieces of meat". As often happens in Japan when you follow your instincts rather than finding a restaurant on Tripadvisor as we often do (too often?), we had a brilliant time. We let an English-speaking waiter choose the food for us (which was predictably delicious), and even got to chatting to a group of slightly tipsy Japanese at the next table. (their English was only slightly better than our Japanese which lead to some rather hilarious exchanges... ;-).

The next day, was sadly our last day in Nagano. Since our train to Tokyo was in the afternoon, we decided to venture out to another rather well-known place near Nagano, Togakushi. Togakushi is a rather famous area for hiking, apart from that the main attractions are the shrines (and a ninja house - more about that later!).

The best word to describe the scenery around Togakushi is "stunning" - possibly a bit less dramatic than what we'd seen in Kamikochi but still gorgeous landscapes. Due to our somewhat tight schedule, we headed decided on a not-too-ambitious walk, one that would take in a couple of lakes (but not the Togakushi shrine which most people who come here walk up to).

The choice was basically between yet another shrine and a NINJA house. Obviously an easy choice - shrines one can find all over Japan but Ninja houses are few and far between. So basically the ninja house is a museum, right. But with a twist - starting with the first room (from where there is no obvious way out!) you have to basically negotiate various hidden doors to find your way out of the house. Absolutely brilliant! I won't go into details since one of you readers might actually come here one day - all I can say is that it's somewhat childish but brilliant fun. We actually had to ask for help from a maintenance guy to find our way out ;-)

After finding our way out of the house I became a certified ninja (?) after scoring 5 hits our of 7 at the Shuriken throwing range. Mathilde can certify I was a very proud Ninja indeed.

The hike back from the ninja house to the bus stop offered yet more stunning views - the highlight possibly being the view towards the Japanese Alps across the aptly named Mirror Lake. The only slight hitch in an otherwise perfect day was the fact that we didn't have time to eat lunch before catching our bus. Oh well, we survived ;-)

We were rather sad to jump on the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Not exactly sad to be back in Tokyo, but rather sad in the knowledge that we'd have to catch our flight back to Europe in a couple of days' time...

To Kanazawa via Shirakawa-go

Our journey continued west-ward, with a stop at Shirakawa-gō, a village located in the valley of Shokawa, in the midst of the Japanese Alps. Shirakawa-gō is known for its Gassho-zukuri houses. Gassho-zukuri means "prayer-hands construction" - rather aptly named so due to the thatched and steeply slanting roofs of the houses, resembling two hands joined in prayer.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?),  Shirakawa-gō is one of the last places where these beautiful houses are still preserved - in general, it's one of the rare examples of truly well-preserved traditional villages in Japan we've seen. And the place is truly astonishingly picteresque, there are postcardesque views to be had in all directions, with the rice fields & traditional houses framed by the beautiful alpine landscapes. Needless to say, the memory card in my camera was heavily stressed.

There isn't that much to see as such, but the village is a really delightful place to stroll around. This being Japan, there were naturally plenty of delicious food options available - this time we went for various types of street food (the Hida beef brochettes were particularly delicious).

From Shirakawa-gō, we jumped on the bus to Kamazawa, located on the Western coast of Japan. Kanazawa is a major urban centre in this part of Japan (so back to "urban Japan" after a few days of peaceful countryside), that has nonetheless managed to keep a lot of Edo-era architecture.


On arriving at the train station, the first impression is one of your typical modern, Japanese metropole. But as we crossed the city and made it to our Ryokan, located in a more traditional part of Kanazawa, more and more of the atmosphere of Edo was evident. After checking in, we decided to stroll around the Ryokan sort of randomly, and ended up in one of the most famous parts of Kanazawa, Higashi-Chayamachi, the old geisha district.

Here one could almost imagine being back in Edo - the old wooden houses are really quite evocative, especially at dusk, which is when we were there... Plenty of wanna-be geishas (or just people dressed in kimonos -- some of whom were thankfully happy to pose for photos!) add to the atmosphere.

Dinner-time was approaching, so we decided to head towards the town centre for a bite to eat, passing by another historical district of Kanazawa, Nishi-Chayamachi (another, smaller, but also rather atmospheric, geisha district).

Strolling along through the modern parts of the city, we finally found ourselves in the third historic area of Kanazawa - the one I was rather looking forward to visit: Nagamachi  - the Samurai District ;-). By now it was dark, so a bit too late to visit the area, but one could (or I could, at least!) easily imagine samurais preparing for battle behind the stone walls linking the main street (well, actually, the district is made up of a single street...).

Enough touristy stuff I say, and time for dinner! After walking around near the samurai district for a while, we decided upon a very Japanese-seeming eatery, located by a canal. And what an excellent choice it was - we were treated to one of the best meals on our trip so far (and that's saying a lot) - dish after dish of delicious and inventive sea food, served by a friendly waitress and the equally friendly chef. Communication was a bit challenging, but all the more fun for it ;)

So needless to say, our impression of Kanazawa after just a few hours was very positive indeed! After a peaceful night at our lovely Ryokan, we got up, full of energy and eager to continue our exploration of Kanazawa (wary of the weather forecast announcing the return of rain, unfortunately).

Since the predicted rain was to arrive by around noon, we decided to start our day with a visit to THE major tourist attraction of Kanazawa - the Kenroku-En garden. I'm normally more of a castle than garden guy (the Kanazawa castle is just next to the garden), but apparently this particular garden is considered one of the top three gardens of Japan, so I suppose a visit was mandatory. And indeed the place is well worth a visit - even if autumn probably isn't the best time of the year to visit the place. It was a very nice place to stroll around - that is until it started pouring down...

So time to seek shelter then! And what better place than the local fish & vegetable market, located not too far away. Not quite as impressive as Tokyo's Tsukiji market to be sure, but still an excellent place to spend a rainy morning before having lunch ;-) And what better place to have a proper sushi lunch, come to think of it? So we decided to do just that - and were in for yet another culinary treat. (before that I made a failed attempt to visit the famous Ninja temple - much to my annoyance I realized upon arrival that I didn't have my wallet to pay the entry fee - aaargh....!)

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Kanazawa, enjoying the laid-back, historic atmosphere of the place. Before dinner I decided to have another walk in the samurai district. It's a pretty nice place to stroll around, historic in a more manly way compared to the geisha district - even if the area is very small.

We met at the train station for dinner - and actually ended up dining there. That's the great thing about Japan - you can have a great meal just about anywhere - even in a train station!

The next day, alas, it was time for us to push on towards Nagano (we decided to head straight to Nagano instead of attempting the Alpine Road as originally planned - it just seemed a bit too ambitious to tackle in one day). Kanazawa is a very fascinating place indeed - thankfully still off the tourist trek (that may change once they finish the Shinkansen line from Tokyo to Kanazawa next year).

Takayama & Kamikochi

The next stop on our trip through the Japanese Alps was Takayama. Takayama is one of the few cities in Japan that has a really well preserved historic part (most Japanese cities are pretty modern, with quite few historic buildings - that's the price you have to pay in an earthquake-prone country that was also pretty badly devastated during WW2 I suppose), so we were quite looking forward to visiting the place.

After a breathtakingly scenic bus drive through some gorgeus Alpine Landscapes, brightly clad in autumn colours (rather reminding me of the Finnish ruska), we finally arrived in Takayama, around lunchtime. We started off by trying to find our Ryokan (in a historic and traditional place like this, why stay anywhere else but a traditional Japanese Inn?). After eventually finding our Ryokan (everything was written in Kanjis in the area where our hotel was located, making it a bit hard for gaijins like us to find our way....)  and checking in, we headed to a nearby ramen restaurant for a hearty & filling lunch.

After randomly walking around in the delightful historic parts of town (just as nice and atmospheric as the photos would lead you to believe), we headed off to Takayama Jinya, one of the main attractions in town. It's a kind of Edo-era administrative building complex, from where Takayama was governed. Very interesting place to visit, both from a historical but also from an architectural point of view (it's a fine example of Edo-era architecture).

After some more random strolling about (Takayama is great for that), we decided to embark upon the Higashiyama walking course, which is a nice footpath at the outskirts of Takayama, going through the temple district. So far, we hadn't seen that many temples/shrines (which normally make up fair chunk of the touristy visits on any trip to Japan - a bit like churches in Florence, if you like), but on this short trek, we got out fair share. The walk ended up in a nice little naturally park on a small hilltop, from where we found eventually found our way back into town after getting a bit lost at one point... Quite a wonderful way to spend a sunny afternoon (yes, the sun was back, yippee!).

For dinner, we ended up in a nice enough Izakaya near the train station, where we got to try a local speciality - Hida beef (a somewhat cheaper flavour of meat compared to Kobe beef).

The next day, we put on our hiking shoes, jumped on the bus and headed off to Kamikochi natural park. It's supposed to be one of the nicest places to experience the Japanese Alps, so expectations were high. And we were not disappointed - on the contrary. This place is just amazing. The landscapes we saw during our bus ride the day before were just a foretaste compared to the beauty of this place...

We decided to do a 3-4 hour hike to give ourselves enough time to properly enjoy the place but make it back well before night fall. For lunch we picked up some bento boxes from a shop by the bus station. In the beginning, the hordes of tourists was a little bit off-putting, but once we got a bit further away from the bus station, the crowds got more spares, and we were taken in by the grandeur of the landscapes - looking all the more spectacular thanks to the blazing autumn colours. The hightlight was probably a very-well named place called mirror lake - where the majestic mountains were reflected in the calm waters of the pond. A truly wonderful place.

For dinner, we went for place recommended in our guide book, called Suzuya. Unsurprisingly, the fact that the place was referred to in a guide book, meant that the staff spoke English, the menu was in English, and the place was full of tourists. Which was a bit of a put-off, actually ;-) But nonetheless, the food was great, as always in Japan. And for once we knew exactly what we were eating ;)

The next day, time to change Ryokan. Each holiday, we go to one high-class Ryokan - which is more or less the same as your bog-standard version (that are quite easy on the wallet, cheaper than western-style hotels) except that they are rather exclusive (you have a lady dressed in a nice kimono that shows you around your room, an excellent kaiseki dinner, usually a private bath and well, the places are just really fancy) and also not so easy on the wallet ;-).

But that was for later - time for some exercise first - we'd decided to go on a guided bike tour to explore the country side around Takayama for a bit. It was great fun - our friendly and knowledgeable guide Hiro also spoke an excellent English which helped (he'd studied in the United States). The tour took us through the outskirts of Takayama, out into the beautiful countryside, with traditional farmhouses, rice fields - we even got to see some of those Hida beef cows I so enjoy eating... ;-)

After returning our bikes, we made our way to the other "must attraction" in Takayama - the Hida Folk museum. The place is a bit like a Japanese version of Seurasaari (or is it the other way around?) - it's an outdoors museum where they've basically displaced historical countryside type buildings from around Takayama. It's a pretty cool place to walk around, especially if you don't have time to head out to see the "real countryside". The Gassho-Zukuri type houses that are found in the nearby area around Shirakawago (where we were planning to head tomorrow, actually). Excellent museum!

Then it was time to head for our Ryokan - called Seibei Ryokan. As explained before, this was a Ryokan of a more exclusive kind - a night in one of these places is something I would strongly recommend to anybody wanting an authentic Japanese experience - if your wallet can sustain the cost, that is. Mathilde got to pick her Yukatan - and then a very nice lady showed us our room. Much to our disappointment, we didn't have a private bath (the private/outdoor baths are often found only at onsen resorts in the countryside, which makes sense I suppose). The room (or rather our living quarters - we had three rooms at our disposal actually) was as classy as is to be expected at this type of establishment.

After a short stay at the communal bath, it was time to go for our Kaiseki meal
- the highlight of a stay in these establishments. Kaiseki is Japanes Haut Cuisine, a multi-course feast to the senses and taste buds. Often the dishes being served are often prepared with such care that it seems a pity to eat them (well, I'm exaggerating a bit - I've never really hesitated about eating anything in Japan - especially not during a Kaiseki meal!). And this time? Well, certainly the food was delicious, but I think we've had better meals on previous trips to Japan. To qualify the meal as a disappointment would be an exaggeration though - it was still delicious. But compared to previous experiences, we felt something was missing.

The breakfasts served at these establishments is also quite a spectacle - if somewhat less spectacular than the dinner. As was the case this time as well. Still, the best breakfast of the trip, I reckon! Alas, then it was time to check out and head off to catch our bus to Shirakawago. We left, relaxted, satisfied & happy with our farewell gifts (I got a cool shuriken keyring), but feeling a bit less impressed by our luxury Ryokan visit compared to our previous trips to Japan. (on reflection, I think it's probably on the whole a better idea to visit these Ryokans in Onsen resorts rather than in cities).

We shall miss Takayama, possibly the most chilled out and pleasant Japanese town I've been to so far!

Visiting Matsumoto

The next stop on our Japanese odyssey was Matsumoto. So we made our way to Shinjuku station, from where we got the train up to Matsumoto. A couple of hours later, we arrived. Unfortunately the forecast rain was a reality upon arrival, so we decided to start by having an early lunch (always a good idea!).

For choosing our restaurant, we used a method we've found to be good in Japan - just pick a cosy-looking place filled with locals. That's normally a good method in any country (I trust locals to know where to eat more than tourists!) but it seems to work particularly well in Japan. Turned out to be a good approach this time too - the food was delicious and not very expensive either. I also tried a rather unusual local speciality - Hatcinoko (bee larvae) - not bad at all actually (better than the natto I had the other day!).

After that, we headed to the main attraction in Matsumoto - the castle. I'm a big fan of Japanese castles (on previous trips to Japan we visited the ones in Himeji and Kumamoto) - and the Matsumoto is one of the most famous ones in Japan - known as Crow's castle due to its blackened walls. It dates back to the early 16th century - and held an important position during the Edo period, when it was a daimyo's castle.

The castle is very well preserved, and rather stunningly located by a small pond. The interior of the castle doesn't hold that much of interest, but it does show the defensive layout and the way Japanese defence systems work pretty well. So all in all, well worth the visit!

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and doing a spot of shopping. There isn't much of historic interest in Matsumoto apart from the castle - there are a couple of historic streets by the river, but nothing too exciting. The fact that it was raining put us off a bit too.

This time around, we were staying at a Ryokan  - a traditional Japanese Inn (meaning walking on tatamis in the room, dressing in Yukatas, wearing slippers, sleeping on futons, and so forth. One does have to give up on some of the comforts of Western-style hotels (such as private bathrooms & English speaking staff), but we like the experience.

We decided to apply the same logic to finding our dinner restaurant as for lunch - find a Japanese-seeming place with no tourists and just blunder in. We were a bit less successful this time as there was no English menu, so we asked the embarrassed waiter to choose for us. We were eventually served, and did eat very well too. (actually turned out there was an English speaking menu after all too). All good fun in the end ;-)

Our original plan had been to head to Kamikochi for the day to do a bit of hiking the next day, and go to Takayama for the evening. But due to the contined dodgy weather, we decided to push on to Takayama straight away.

Back in Japan!

If you happen to be a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed we are rather big fans of Japan. The language, the cuisine, the culture, we love it all basically. So we've been yearning to go since our last visit in the spring in 2013 - and we finally gave in and booked our flights for the end of October.

This time the plan was to visit the Japanese Alps - but as always our trip started in Tokyo. Our flight was from Milan, so we had a 3-hour drive before boarding our Alitalia flight. The flight went smoothly (I caught up on my Hollywood blockbuster shortlist by watching quite a few films I've been wanting to see but just hadn't found the time to...), and we arrived in Tokyo, not too nackered, determined to stay awake until the evening to get into the Japanese rythm as soon as possible.

This time around, we stayed near Yanaka, a very nice part of Tokyo we enjoyed walking around last time. Our hotel was the typical Tokyo hotel we go for - cheap (by Tokyo standards), with a clean & tidy small room. After dropping of our bags (too early to check in), we headed off, eager to explore Tokyo. We started by walking around Yanaka, happy to find the area as charming as last time around. Yanaka is one of the few areas of Tokyo that wasn't wiped out by the Allied bombing raids of WW2, and retains some of the old "small-town feel" that Tokyo (apparently) used to have.

Yanaka is mostly famous for its cemetery, which we strolled through. There are also a couple of more commercial streets with nice little shops selling all sorts of funny stuff. From Yanaka we carried on to Ueneo Park, checking out the street peformers and a temple along the way. We found a nice little Ramen restaurant where we had a much-needed lunch. Oishii - Ramen is I suppose what one could call Japanses fast food - rather healthier and tastier than the Western variant...

We then headed back to the hotel, checking in finally. After chilling out for a bit in our room, it was time to head for our rendez-vous with our special Tokyo guide, Matsuoka-san! We had the ambitious plan to walk to Kita-senju station, where we were supposed to meet. Didn't seem that hard, as we checked the route before hand, but in practice, we sort of got lost. Quite a few phone calls with Matsuoka, a goat, a rather confused discussion with a shopkeeper (my Japanese isn't quite up to scratch yet it would seem even for the simplest conversation ;) and a finally a taxi ride later, we eventually managed to meet up with Matsuoka.

Great to see our Japanese friend, apart from having changed jobs (he's now an entrepreneur with his own company - we even got to visit his office), he's not much changed. Certainly not his appetite for good food and fun - he took us out on a rather unforgettable night out that started in a charming little Japanese Izakaya, followed by a fantastic little eatery (which is so discreetly hidden away that one could not stumble upon the place by accident) where we ate some pretty amazing stuff (mouth-watering sashimi, kobe beef, just to mention a couple of things). So we got back to the hotel very happy after a fantastic night out!

The next day, we got up early-ish, eager to explore Tokyo yet more. We walked around Yanaka a bit more, and then headed back to Ueno. After a bit of shopping for cloths and stuff in Ueno, we headed of to Akihabara for a bit of camera shopping (I ended up purchasing a nice wide-angle lens for my camera). Then 'twas time to meet up with Matsuoka again for a bit of lunch - so off we headed again to Kita-Senju. We had a nice and very Japanese lunch again (VERY Japanese - I had nattō aka. fermented soya beans - apparently I was the first non-Japanese person Matsuoka had seen eating it, so I felt rather proud).

After a bit more walking about, we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and prepare for dinner. This time we decided to try some tofu - our guide book recommended a restaurant that specializes in just that not far from the hotel. Now, normally, I'm not what you'd call a fan of tofu (although I don't really mind it either). But this place is something else. We each took a set menu of basically just stuff made from Tofu - and it was delicious. Needless to say the tofu is not the industrial stuff you normally get, but rather made using traditional methods by the restaurant. A real culinary delight.

The next morning, it was time to jump on the train and head to Matsumoto! So bye bye to Tokyo for now.

Dinner in Sophia Antipolis

We had great fun a couple of weeks ago at Myriam's birthday bash (as always during events involving Myriam - she's what one would call "great fun"). Unfortunately Myriam and Fabian are rather busy (especially after the arrival of their children), so we don't see them as often as we'd like.

So we were very happy to accept their dinner invitation this weekend. And, as you can see from the photos, we naturally had great fun, as always ;-). We were treated to some great BBQ food, and I in particular got a good sampler of  various strong alcohols - they have a rather impressive collection.

Merci beaucoup Myriam & Fabian - a bientot j'espere! ;-)

Quick visit to Edinburgh

I had a trip to one of my favourite cities in Europe, Edinburh, planned for all week. Unfortunately, I had a bit of an accident installing a Japanese-style toilet cistern during the weekend, and did my back in. Result: 2 days bed-bound which felt a bit like a nagging reminder about the fact that I ain't no youngster no more. Darn...

Anyway, I did finally get off to Edinburgh Wednesday evening - even if my back wasn't completely sorted out (but my doctor assumed me there was no danger in travelling). So after a rather painful trip (which included a rather long stopover in Brussels), I eventually arrived in Edinburgh, checking into my hotel (which due to the last minute travel arrangements was rather far from the city centre, unfortunately...) around midnight.

After checking out (and of course, as you can see, photographing) a rather stunning sunrise, it was time to have a breakfast (of the Scottish variant, with a bit of haggis on the side!) and then head over to the office. After a somewhat frustrating day at the office (as the first day of these sort of trips often are, as we try to set everything up to work properly), 'twas time to head to the pub! I started off with dinner at the Queen's Arms in Frederic Street with my colleagues Sandeep and Etienne (had chicken stuffed with haggis, pretty good actually!).

From there, I headed off to the Guildford Arms (where else?) for my rendez-vous with Andy and Jenni. After some nice catching up (about the recent referendum about Scottish independence, amongst other things!) during which a couple of beers were consumed, we carried on to Whistle Binkies.

Now that just proves how some things NEVER change over the years - Whistle Binkies was where I used to come drinking with the mountaineering club chaps during my student year in Edinburgh (predictably, we ran into Iain there - and equally predictably he was, erm, slightly tipsy, let's say).

So a real nostalgia trip then! The next day was a little bit difficult, with a full day at the office followed by a rather laborious trip back to Nice (changeover in Frankfurt this time).